Nothing cures the post-football blues like a nice dose of shuffling, grumbling flesh eaters bent on nothing more than quelling their incessant hunger. No, my friend, I’m not referring to the cast of the new season of Honey Boo-Boo. In this case, I mean tonight’s mid-season premier of The Walking Dead.

The first half of season 3 provided a nice balance of everything The Walking Dead was originally known for. The drama was palatable without being preachy. There were surprises and character deaths aplenty. There was, thankfully, plenty of walker action without over-doing it. However, the darkest and most entertaining aspect of this season was the character development. Dark, tough choices had to be made; sometimes skewing what is right, wrong, or simple necessity.

For the past two months we have waited not so patiently for this moment. Nothing is simultaneously good and bad as a nice cliffhanger. It’s been long enough now, folks. It’s finally time to see how The Governor’s wrath will be exacted on Rick and the fellow inhabitants of the prison following the attack on the town of Woodbury. Time to see if the second half of season three will live up to the well-crafted first half.

Picking up right where we left off last December, The Walking Dead doesn’t disappoint in delivering the goods. We start with a Thunderdome-esque two men enter, one man leave duel pitting brother against brother placing Merle and Daryl at odds. What ensues is a rescue/escape from Woodbury then spirals downward from there.

Living in a world gone to shit is hard. No one escapes that reality as heroes and villains alike are starting to show some wear and tear. What each character holds onto for strength has started slipping away as the anger, fear, and doubt starts to eat at them from the inside out. Even the steadfast, albeit crazy, Governor has lost his cool and collected self. Glenn is getting anger issues rivaled only by a drunken Mel Gibson being pulled over by a cop by the last name of Goldstein.

There’s a faltering of cohesiveness on both sides as Rick and The Governor (or Philip if the mood suits you) deal with their own internal struggles. The only question remains will they be able to pull it together in time to save themselves? Or will new leaders surface as shown at the end by Andrea rallying the citizens of Woodbury?

My one complaint about the first half of the season was how quickly Rick’ s delusional state appeared to be wrapped up in one episode. Those who have read the graphic novels know the incident with the phone went on for much longer (not to mention later) than in the tv series. Yet, as evidenced tonight, Rick is still riding high on the rails of the crazy train; hallucinations and all. Apparently, and thankfully, mental issues and repressed guilt cannot be solved in approximately 42 minutes of time. I’m looking forward to seeing how Lori’ s apparition will affect Rick in the upcoming weeks.

Overall, I’m very happy with what the mid-season premier has foreshadowed what’s in store for us in the weeks ahead. I’m satisfied that the remainder of this season will continue the tumultuous, action-filled excitement we saw with the first half of season three of The Walking Dead.

And don’t worry ladies, Daryl will be returning shortly I’m sure.

This is Big Angry, assuring you I’m not seeing any apparitions of anyone’s wife, living or dead, while waiting for next Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead on The ThrowDown.